Tears in Her Eyes
by WanderingStarmaster
Summary: I saw her there, across the room, watching me...with tears in her eyes.


Idea I had while playing ME2 and wrote in about an hour. Enjoy.

* * *

My family waited at the terminal for the transport that was to take us off world. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, but I had never really liked Illium that much anyway, so I wasn't complaining all that much.

I looked over at my parents. I knew they weren't really my mother and father, I'd figured that out when I was a little girl, and they'd told me the truth, but they were my family. They'd raised me and provided for me as if I were really their own, and I had repaid them in the way all children do, a lot of hair-tearing insanity with a touch of sweetness on the side. At least that's how Mom put it.

She was speaking softly with Dad. They seemed nervous about something. Maybe it had to do with that guy Niket who had shown up not long ago. I don't know much about him, but Dad seems to. If he didn't Niket must have said something that got their attention, because not long after he announced we were getting off world.

I was surprised. I know I'd said never really liked it here, but I wasn't dying to get off world either. But Dad was adamant and so we were packed up in record time and now we were here waiting for the ship that would take us to the stars.

The morning news came on, and a story about a series of shootouts that had occurred during the night began playing. For some reason this seemed to make my parents even more nervous, especially when it turned out that Niket was one of those killed. Shot in the back in a warehouse of all places. He had to have been involved in something, and it seemed they knew something about it.

The news continued on. Oh, this is interesting…apparently there was also a Spectre involved. What could the Council want here? Then again, what wouldn't they want? The Council is like any other political body, always looking for things that will boost its power or its image or both, and those are found in abundance on Illium.

Something, however, told me that this Spectre was here for something different. What exactly I couldn't say, and why I got that notion I was even less sure.

Most people look at me and think I'm just another teenage girl. Well, let them think that. Truth is I'm probably smarter than any three of them put together. I notice things, things that people don't always want seen, and I can make connections that might not always seem obvious, and right now I was seeing several between the events of last night and our rather hurried departure. But how did it fit together. There was a piece missing, and if I could find it I could figure this out, but until then…

That's when I saw her. She was standing on the far side of the terminal, out of the way of the crowd, a tall, beautiful woman, _who looked just like me!_ I don't think she had intended to be seen, but she wasn't really trying to hide either.

I tried to make it seem like I hadn't noticed her and examined her out of the corners of my eyes. she looked like she had been through some action, her clothes were scuffed and dusty, and she seemed to favor one of her legs, a large coat around her shoulders, probably to make her seem presentable, though it did little to hide her shapely figure.

As she turned her head slightly, I caught sight of a slight gleam in her eyes and on her face. Tears. _She's watching me…and crying?_

A man in combat armor came up behind her. A number was emblazoned on it, N7: Alliance Special Forces. He looked familiar for some reason. He put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him.

Now I was curious. I began moving toward them. They had to be a part of what was happening, and I wanted to know what. I ducked through the crowd, heading in their direction. I stopped a few times to see where they were, and what my folks were doing.

I was almost there, when I looked over to where they had been and they were gone! I looked around to see if they had just moved, but didn't see them anywhere. _Dang!_ Maybe someone around them saw where they…

"Oriana!"

I looked back the way the voice had come. "Yeah, Mom?"

"Come on, Sweetie, it's time to go."

I groaned. I wanted to find out what was going on first! "Ok."

I trudged back over to where they were waiting by the boarding area. "What were you doing?"

"Oh, I thought I saw someone familiar."

"You saw someone you know?"

"I didn't say someone I know, just someone familiar."

"Ah. What did they look like?"

"Well…" I hesitated, "…she looked just like me."

That took them by surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah. She was watching me and…and she had tears in her eyes."

"Hmmm…that's strange. Are you sure?" Dad asked.

"Yeah, the whole time I knew she was there she was watching me."

"Well, let's worry about that later. For now, we have a ship to catch."

I nodded then looked back to where I had seen her. That face was going to haunt me, I just knew it. She would haunt me until I figured out who she was and what her presence meant. But I would.

You hear that? Someday, I swear, I'll find out who you are, so be ready!

With that, I turned and followed my parents onto the waiting transport.

* * *

There you go. Not quite what I'd hoped but you might think differently. Either way, let me know.


End file.
